- Compare and Contrast the Effect of Heredity and Hormones on Human Behavior Of all of the things that effect human behavior , two stand out above the rest . Heredity and hormones have significantly different effects on human behavior in different people , but both play a profound role in shaping the way a person behaves . The study of genetics has not been around for very long , but in the time it has been studied , some great research has taken place . Similarly , the study of hormones is a relatively new idea , as well . Though different cases have brought about different results , heredity seems to profoundly impact things like intelligence , whereas hormones have a staggering effect on both intelligence and other physical behaviors . One of the first men to actively research the impact of heredity on human behavior was Sir Francis Galton , who did the majority of his best work in the late 1800s . According to Joseph McInerny (2007 , “Behaviors are complex traits involving multiple genes that are affected by a variety of other factors (p . 1 . The fact of the matter is that scientists do not yet know as much about heredity as they would like .Though there is plenty of evidence that genetics play a huge role in shaping human behavior , it is unclear exactly how heredity interacts with other factors to produce the actions that people undertake . One thing that is supported by research is the interaction of heredity and certain environmental factors . This means that having a certain gene can cause a person to be more likely to develop any type of behavior . In his work , McInerny writes (2007 , “Genetic factors also can influence the role of certain environmental factors in the development of a particular trait . For example , a person may have a genetic variant that is known to increase his or her risk for developing emphysema from smoking , an environmental factor . If that person never smokes , then emphysema will not develop (p . 1 . This is a very important distinction to make . With heredity factors , the chance that a certain behavior will develop is the primary consideration . This is much different from hormonal factors ,where the hormones themselves can serve as stimuli for the problem . Hormones have been in the news a whole lot with the recent baseball scandal . When they aren ‘t being used illegal for performance boosting ,hormones can have a profound impact on human behavior . Whereas research shows that heredity only makes a person more likely to behave a certain way in a certain environment , similar research has also shown that hormones can act as their own stimuli for behavior . Medical Research News says (2006 , “Among these are results of a clinical trial finding that a daily regimen of growth hormone pills helps increase muscle strength and fitness in the elderly a preliminary study suggesting another hormone , oxytocin , can reduce the stress in couples who bicker and research pinpointing the causes of aggression in men (p . 1 .Research has also shown that there is a much…